Honors Thesis

The honors thesis offers students a valuable introduction to conducting advanced research. Besides the intrinsic rewards that come from conducting advanced research under the supervision of a professor in the department, many graduate programs require the submission of such research as part of their application process.

Students with a 3.5 GPA by the start of their senior year may opt to write the senior honors thesis, which is generally 60 pages in length and must be written under the direction of a faculty member. Students must receive special permission from the department undergraduate coordinator to register for the two-semester Senior Honors Thesis class (POL 496A in the fall and 496B in the spring) to receive credit for their work on the thesis.

Students develop a thesis topic in consultation with their professor, write up and present a proposal to the undergraduate committee of the department early in the first semester, and carry out the research and writing of the paper thereafter. After submitting the paper in early April of their senior year, they present their work before a small group of faculty at the end of the semester.

Interested students should contact Dr. Matthew Green, undergraduate coordinator of politics, for more information.